


The Witch Queen

by MissMoonshine



Series: A Spellman family history [3]
Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Family History, Friendship, Gen, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 13:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMoonshine/pseuds/MissMoonshine
Summary: Sabrina, Susie and Roz have to do a history project and aunt Zelda may just have a little more insight on the character they have choosen than she would like to admit.





	The Witch Queen

**Author's Note:**

> Sabrina called upon Anne Boleyn during the exorcism and I couldn't resist...
> 
> I don't own 'The Chilling adventures of Sabrina.'

‘He is going to divorce Queen Katherine.’

‘Excuse me?’

Zelda stared at her the young woman in front of her, for once absolutely speechless. Her, well, friend, gave her a frantic look.

‘He wrote a letter to Rome, he is going to divorce her because he desperately wants me! And if he has to marry me for that, then he is now willing to do so.’

‘Well, perhaps you should have listened to me instead of telling him that if he got rid of his wife, you would do just that.’ Perhaps it was harsh to say such a thing but sometimes Zelda just couldn’t help herself. The young woman just glared at and threw up her hands.

‘No one in their right mind would do something like that! How was I supposed to know that he actually would?’

There was a slightly panicked look on her face and Zelda sighed before grabbing her shoulders in a half-hearted attempt to calm her down.

‘Will you get a hold of yourself, Anne? You don’t have to marry him, just say the word and we will be on the next ship back to France.’

Anne sank down on the little sofa next to her and let her head fall back.

‘That would be lovely…I really had no intention whatsoever of marrying him, he is but an old fool!’ Her head snapped back up and she stared at Zelda with passion in her eyes. Zelda just rolled her eyes again, exasperated.

‘Need I remind you that I am older than you, dear, and you are more than 100 years older than the king?’ Now it was Anne’s turn to roll her eyes.

‘You know exactly what I mean, Zelda. He is terribly old already, for a mortal…but I cannot see another way but to marry him.’

‘Well, the offer stands. We can leave anytime you want.’

‘And what good would that do? None at all, don’t you think? All it would do would be to make him angry and if it goes wrong…Satan knows what he would do to hunt us down!’

‘If that is what you want to do, then I will not stand in your way. But Anne?’

‘Yes?’

‘Be careful.’

Anne gently squeezed Zelda’s hands as an assurance that she would and the two of them began their plotting. After all, if Anne was to become queen, they needed to be prepared for every eventuality.

 

* * *

 

Once the news got out that the king was going to divorce the queen so he could marry again, people started looking at her, the beautiful and young Lady Anne – and she relished in it. It gave her power and the mere thought of soon being queen of England made her entire body tingle. What did it matter if the people did not like her if the she had the king in the palm of her hand?

Zelda was a little more distant about the entire thing, more sceptic but in the end she would stand by her friend no matter what. It was what she had promised Anne, all those years ago when they had to share a room back in France. She was quite a few years older than Anne and the younger woman had somehow gotten herself in some desperate witch-trouble. If it hadn’t been for Zelda’s quick thinking, her fate surely would have been quite dire. As it was, Zelda ended up accompanying her new friend back to court and was then quickly convinced to stay – it was quite enjoyable and made it much easier to keep an eye on her. And when Anne’s family had asked her to come back to the English court, well, Zelda didn’t see why she shouldn’t join her – her own family was currently residing just outside London anyway – which was why she was now helping Anne pin her hair back so she could put on the jewellery the king had gifted her last night for their official engagement.

‘Are you sure you want to go through with this?’ she asked again and Anne sighed.

‘It doesn’t matter what I want, Zelda. It is far too late to run now so I will just have to go through with it. Besides, being queen will put me in a very good position to make sure the mortals won’t look in our direction when it comes to religious affairs.’

‘If you say so…there you go. You really do look gorgeous, Anne. Just like a future Queen should. But if you change your mind, the offer stands.’

Anne snorted.

‘Even after the wedding?’

‘Whenever you need – we are witches, all we need to do is wreck a little havoc and by the time they have dealt with it, we are long gone.’

‘Thank you. I appreciate it, I really do.’

Zelda just nodded and gave her friends shoulder a slight squeeze before she called in two of the other ladies to accompany them to the dining hall.

 

* * *

 

‘Do you have anything that will get my pregnant?’

Zelda almost chocked on her tea at Anne’s blunt request. The future queen was standing in the door of her chambers though the fact that it was just after witching hour was more peculiar than the visit itself.

‘Why in Satan’s name would you need anything to get pregnant?’ she asked after she had recovered from her initial surprise. Anne let herself fall on the bed next to her.

‘Because I stopped using protection spells weeks ago and nothing happened! The king only has that dreadful daughter and he will want an heir,’ she groaned without even so much as trying to hide her displeasure about this in her voice.

‘You really want a half-bred child?’

‘Well, if I want to keep the king happy then yes, I need to have a child.’

‘Very well.’ Zelda didn’t even pretend to be happy about this but nevertheless she got up and opened the box that contained her potion collection. Without hesitation she took out a black veil and handed it to Anne.

‘Drink it before you go to bed with him – all of it. It will work best during witching hour of course, and under a full moon but it will be potent for 13 hours on from the moment you take it. You should be with child afterwards but if anything goes wrong, you can’t use it again. This potion works once and once only. Do you understand, Anne?’

‘Yes, Zelda, I understand.’ She smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘Just leave before someone sees you here.’

And Anne did but just as she was about to pull the door close behind her, she turned around again.

‘You should be careful, Zelds. There are quite a few men in his majesties court who are rather intrigued by your looks.’

Before Zelda could say anything else, Anne was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

‘Are you sure it will be a girl?’

‘I’m quite certain, yes.’

‘But your daughter is very healthy,’ added Hilda innocently.

She was new at court, had just arrived a few weeks ago to officially become Queen Anne’s midwife since Zelda couldn’t have that position for obvious reasons. The king was far from happy about it but had ultimately given in under the pressure he got from all the women. Of course, he had asked around about Hilda’s reputation anyway and once he found out that she had never lost a child – just like her mysterious sister, apparently – he gave his consent. He would never have to know that both sisters were taking care of his Queen now, those secrets would stay behind locked doors.

But being new at court meant, of course, that Hilda was still blissfully unaware of the politics behind the scenes, of all the things that seemed important. Including the fact that the king wanted a son and not another daughter. But there was nothing they could do about that, even for witches as powerful as they were, such a feat was beyond the possible.

‘Well, what the king doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’

 

* * *

 

 

‘Zelda?’

‘Yes?’

‘Would you consider being Elizabeth’s unholy godmother?’

Zelda’s head shot up in surprise as she looked from the child in her arms to Anne on the bed. The queen hurriedly continued before she had the chance to answer, though.

‘Of course she will be baptised in a _Christian_ church – her father must never know my true faith – but I want to know that there is someone else looking out for her. Would you please consider it, Zelda?’

‘Are you really asking that, Anne?’ A smile crept on Zelda’s face. ‘It would be my pleasure to be Princess Elizabeth honorary night mother.’

‘Thank you, Zelda. I don’t know how I would could have survived here at court without you.’

‘Don’t thank me yet. You just disappointed the king quite badly – you should try to get back into his good graces quick.’

‘Don’t worry, I already have some things planned for that.’

‘Well, then make sure that they work out as you hope.’

 

* * *

 

 

When Sabrina was a little girl, she spent all her time at the mortuary. It was solitary and lonely life for a child, to only have your aunts and your grown-up cousin to keep you company and they aren’t really the best playmates either. So it was not surprising that she always wanted to play with the children who joined their parents when they made funeral arrangements – but it was very one-sided.

The reason for that was simple: The children were afraid of the mortuary, the unofficial haunted house of Greendale, and therefore wary of Sabrina.

And even though she didn’t like the idea, aunt Zelda last but not least agreed that it would be better for Sabrina’s happiness to go to a normal school.

The primary school Sabrina hated, mostly because she still didn’t have any friends to play with. It wasn’t until middle school that she met her two best friends – the two girls who were still as close to her as sisters: Roz and Susie.

It didn’t take long for the three of them to be glued together by the hip and pretty soon Sabrina had spent long afternoons at both their places. That was the one unspoken agreement between her and her aunts, she could go to mortal school but her mortal friends were not to be brought over to the mortuary. But neither of her friends seemed to mind that Sabrina never invited them, either they were uncomfortable with the thought of spending time in a house with dead people or the Spellman house was just too far away from their places and school – which was what they claimed.

Sabrina never complained about it because it was true that the Mortuary was on the outskirts of Greendale and quite remote from the rest actual town. In the beginning, one of her aunties – usually Hilda – would come and pick her up in the evenings but once she got a little bit older, she just walked home on her own. She was a witch, after all, and even though she was still too young to be baptised there wasn’t much that a witch had to fear in the Greendale woods.

The arrangement worked out just well until Sabrina came back from school one day with a pensive expression on her face.

‘What’s up with you, cuz?’ Ambrose greeted her from the porch when she stomped inside.

‘Nothing,’ was all she muttered as her answered and then she went upstairs and locked herself in her room right away. Hilda and Zelda shared a worried glance but then silently agreed to wait until Sabrina brought whatever it was up on her own. Otherwise they could still approach it over dinner.

But of course, they didn’t have to wait that long. It was about an hour after she came home that Sabrina joined them in the living room.

‘Aunties?’

‘Yes, love?’

‘I was wondering…’ she started carefully and threw a worried glance at Zelda.

‘What are you wondering about, Sabrina?’

‘Well...we have to do this project for history class aaand I was wondering if Susie and Roz could come over this weekend so we could do it here? We would do it at Susie’s,’ she added quickly before her aunts could protest, ‘but her dad has to work this weekend and Roz’s dad is away, so I thought they could come over?’

Hilda and Zelda looked at each other and a silent conversation passed between them, one which Sabrina was obvious to as she just continued to babble.

‘We’ll just be in my room and out of your way but maybe I could take some history books upstairs? It’s only this once and – ‘

‘Tell your friends that they can come around 10? And ask them what they want for lunch, will you?’ Aunt Hilda interrupted and Sabrina stared at her with wide eyes before she nodded.

‘Thank you, aunties!’

‘Just make sure they behave.’

Of course aunt Zelda would say that but Sabrina really didn’t mind. It was the first time she’d have friends over for real and it made her incredibly happy. So she just hugged her aunties tightly before running outside to phone them and let them know.

It was later, during supper, that the topic came up again – of course it did, Sabrina couldn’t seem to think about anything else. So everyone just resigned themselves to their fate, that for the next three days they would hear a lot about this.

‘…and then we had to pick one of the pictures of the queens and we picked the second one, Anne Boleyn because – ‘

Zelda nearly choked on her wine. It took Hilda gently patting her back before she could breathe normally again and then she looked right into the confused and worried faces of Ambrose and Sabrina.

‘Are you alright, aunt Zee?’

‘Why in Satan’s name would you choose Anne Boleyn for you project?’ Zelda asked her niece while completely ignoring her nephew. The girl just shrugged.

‘She sounded more interesting than the others?’

‘Well, she was. If you excuse me.’ And then Zelda did what she never did and left the table before dinner was actually over. Sabrina and Ambrose stared after her, totally confused why she suddenly acted so strangely but when Hilda chastised them for letting their dinner get cold, they quickly returned their attention to their plates.

But after dinner Sabrina’s couldn’t hold her curiosity back any longer and when she helped her aunt Hilda with the plates, she saw her chance.

‘Auntie Hilda, why did Aunt Zelda leave earlier?’

‘Oh…I don’t think I am supposed to tell you that. But maybe…’ She stopped for a moment, contemplating how to word her explanation.

‘You see, Zelda and I, we are from England. And those English Queens you are doing your research on, they were a very…touchy…subject for us witches there. Especially Anne Boleyn.’

‘But why?’

‘She was a witch, sweetheart.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really.’

‘Oh…is that why aunt Zelda was so angry, because I choose the witch-queen?’

‘Oh, she wasn’t a witch-queen, love. But no, that is not why Zelda left. That’s a little more complicated and you’re still too young for that story.’

There was something untypical in Hilda’s tone, something strict and Sabrina had a feeling that digging deeper would only get her in trouble. So she just filed that information away for another time and left it at that.

 

* * *

 

 

It was exactly five past ten on Saturday morning when the knock on the front door announced the arrival of Susie and Roz.

‘I’ll get it!’, Sabrina called and ran down the stairs to let them in.

‘No need to make this much noise, Sabrina!’

‘Of course, auntie Zee – hi guys! How are you, did you have trouble finding the way?’, she then beamed as she let her friends in. They both smiled – maybe a little tight but they had never been to the mortuary before and the house did seem a little intimidating, especially from outside.

‘We got here just fine, Brina’, Roz smiled after they put away their jackets.

‘Great! So, now, these are my aunties, aunt Hilda, aunt Zelda, this is Susie and this is Roz.’

‘Welcome, dears. I made brownies and biscuits for you to take upstairs’, Hilda greeted the two girls and handed each of them a plate piled with sugary treats. The friends grinned widely and happily accepted – they had tasted aunt Hilda’s delicious baking before so this was great.

‘Really Hilda, to give them that much sugar before lunch. Sabrina, get some plated, we don’t want you to have crumbs all over your room.’

‘Of course, aunt Zelda’, Sabrina nodded and gave her friends a reassuring smile as they eyed her aunt Zelda somewhat wearily.

‘Come on, guys, I’ll show you my room.’

‘Your house is huge!’ Susie stated once they had made themselves comfortable on Sabrina’s bed.

‘I guess it is…but we don’t use most of it, only the bedrooms, the living room and the kitchen. Well, and the basement but…’

‘Is that were your aunts take care of the dead people?’

‘Yep.’

‘I really can’t imagine them doing something like that, can you, Susie? They seem so…I don’t know, not like the kind of people who’d cut open bodies...’ Roz trailed of when she saw Sabrina shrug.

‘It’s just their job…anyway, I already went through our library and picked out some books that could be useful.’ She pointed to a pile of old, heavy books next to the desk. ‘If we each pick one to go through, we can maybe start putting the presentation together after lunch?’

‘Sounds like a plan, Brina. Let’s get started, then.’

And the three of them set to work. It was a much slower process than they had expected which, to be fair, was partly caused by the fact that both Roz and Susie had some trouble reading the books. Not because they couldn’t read, of course, but because neither of them was used to reading the old-fashioned print or even occasional handwriting. So they always had to ask Sabrina to read and ‘translate’ for them – since she had grown up between these books, she didn’t have any trouble reading them whatsoever.

‘Well. That could have gone better’, Roz sighed as she shut her tome with a loud bang. ‘These books must be worth a fortune, Brina. Do you have any idea how your aunts got all of them?’

‘They just piled up over time? I don’t know, I think many of them have been in the family for generations and everyone just took really good care of them?’

‘Wherever they are from, guys, they are the best sources for our project. No one else will have any of this information, I mean, we already looked up a lot online but there was so much in these books that wasn’t mentioned anywhere else!’

Before either Sabrina or Roz could react to Susie’s pretty point on statement, they were interrupted by aunt Hilda, who called them downstairs for lunch.

 

* * *

 

‘Wake up, Zelda, wake up, wake up!’

Zelda opened her eyes and looked in Anne’s pale face. Something about her was wrong, off. She sat up and reached for Anne’s hands – but they weren’t solid. Astral projection, then.

‘What is going on?’ She hissed and glanced at Hilda who was still sound asleep next to her. It had been one of the more annoying parts of her sister being at court, having to share a chamber with her. But right now, that wasn’t important – Anne was. The queen took a deep breath.

‘I have been arrested, I’m in the tower. Zelda, you have to take care of my books, everything that could reveal anything – what are you doing?’

Before she had even finished speaking, Zelda had got up and grabbed her robe and slippers.

‘Come on, then, we have no time to fritter away.’

She didn’t wait for the fallen queen’s reaction as she slipped out of the room and quite rushed towards the royal chambers. As a witch, blending into the shadows had always come easily to her and right now, this gift came in quite handy. No one noticed her – or the queen – on their way and the two guards in front of the room were easily dealt with as well. A harmless little sleeping spell and they wouldn’t wake up until dawn.

Once they had shut the door behind them, they both let out a breath neither of them had noticed they were holding.

‘What are you accused of?’ Zelda asked while she went through the books on the shelf, taking out the ones that could incriminate Anne in any way. The woman lowered her head into her hands.

‘Incest, Zelda! Adultery, yes, that I would happily admit but incest! My own brother – even I would not do that on my own account.’

‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘I don’t know what I shall do – flee? Kill myself? Run away, with my precious daughter still here? No…and even if I could, Zelda, I’m in the tower. The only prison even a witch can’t flee without any assistance – don’t say you will help me; I want you – need you – to make sure that no harm will come to Elizabeth.’

‘You are aware that you are still a member of a coven? A very powerful coven, I might add, that has long since accepted you as queen – they will help you, Anne.’

The queen closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

‘We don’t know if they will – or if there is anything they can possibly do to help…please look out for Elizabeth,’ she whispered without looking at Zelda. It was clear that she thought of this as goodbye and Zelda felt herself nod slowly.

‘I believe the will send Margaret Lee to tend to you, so if I have anything to help you out, I will pass it along with her. Go now, Anne, before the psychopumps get you.’

Now it was the queen’s turn to nod and with a small smile at her friend her astral form disappeared.

 

* * *

 

 

The next time Zelda saw her friend again would be the last time she’d ever see her. Even a witch could not come back from the dead if she was beheaded, and that was to be Anne’s fate today.

Zelda stood in the middle of the crowd, far enough back so she wouldn’t attract attention and far enough in the front so she could watch everything. In a soupçon of compassion, she had told Hilda to stay back and watch the little princess – who wasn’t a princess anymore now – so it wasn’t hard to just disappear in the crowd.

Then Anne walked up the steps, her red coat and the red skirts her last sign of defiance and even though her words to the people were about the Christian god – of course they were – Zelda saw her lips move in silent prayer to their dark Lord when she took of her pearls.

And then the executioner nodded and a moment later Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, one of Zelda’s few real friends, was no more.

 

* * *

 

 

She kept her promise to Anne and had an eye on little Elizabeth when she was send away from court. The girl would never know of her mother’s true faith, of course, and she would only ever know Zelda herself as an old friend of her mother. She had no business involving herself in the princess’s upbringing, so she stayed out of it and tried to make sure that her various stepmothers treated her well.

Most of them did not really seem to care about the king’s daughters until he had that silly girl, Kitty Howard executed – why she called herself _KITTY_ was beyond Zelda, it was utterly unbefitting for a queen.

His next wife was Lady Latimer, now Queen Catherine Parr, and it seemed like she had taken it upon herself to take all of the King’s children under her wing. She also shared the beliefs Anne had proclaimed hers in public – and Zelda knew that she wasn’t needed anymore. Little Elizabeth had someone looking out for her now which meant that her job was done.

In 1545 Zelda left the court of Tudor and travelled to Spain in order to visit one of the covens there and teach some of their witchlings. It wasn’t until the end of the century that she returned to England and though she would never admit, she was oddly proud of the great queen little Elizabeth had become.

 

* * *

 

‘…and apparently, she was even wearing red when she had to walk up to her executioner, to protest and show her defiance of the king! And her jewels, pretty rubies to go with the dre-‘

‘Pearls.’

‘What?’ Roz gave Zelda a confused look. All through lunch the three girls had been talking about their findings and nobody had interrupted them – until now. Zelda looked sharply at the girl across the table.

‘Queen Anne did not wear rubies, she wore pearls. Snow white, perfect pearls that were given to her daughter after the…king…died.’

‘Oh.’ For a moment, Roz was silent but then her eyes snapped back up. ‘How do you know that, Miss Spellman?’

‘Auntie Zee is very well versed in history, and the Tudor Era is her speciality. Isn’t that right, auntie?’

‘Ambrose...’

Everyone was now staring at the young man, who had suddenly appeared in the doorway. He hadn’t been down all morning, had probably slept until now and had been lured downstairs by the smell of food. With a big smile, he sprawled himself over the kitchen counter and started to eat with the callousness that was so very typical for him.

Of course, Zelda wouldn’t accept such behaviour and even Hilda shot him a warning glare but it was Sabrina who once again broke the tension as she smiled at her confused friends.

‘Guys, I told you about my cousin Ambrose? He’s living with us – Ambrose, these are Susie and Roz.’

‘Nice to finally meet you, ladies.’

Neither Susie nor Roz could suppress a giggle at that but they quickly sobered up again when Zelda gave them a sharp look. It was Roz who finally found the courage to get back to their former topic.

‘Is it true, Miss Spellman? Are you an expert on Anne Boleyn?’

‘That’s one way to put it…’

‘Really, Hilda!’ Zelda glared at her sister who had the decency to at least look somewhat chastised for mumbling loud enough to be heard. Then she turned her eyes back to the girl across the table and sighed.

‘I have indeed spent quite some time … studying… that era. Which, Rosalind, does not excuse your lack of research. Sabrina, I did give you more than enough appropriate literature on the topic so you should be able prepare a proper presentation.’ Both of them ducked their heads slightly and nodded, so she gave them a light smile. ‘If we could please finish our lunch before it is gone completely cold – Ambrose, sit at the table. _Now.’_

It wasn’t until they girls were about to go upstairs again that the entire thing was brought up again, surprisingly by Susie. Sabrina and Roz were already on the stairs but she lingered in the doorway and finally turned back to the three adults who had remained in the kitchen.

‘Miss Spellman?’

‘What is it, dove?’

‘Oh, ahm…’ Susie sputtered and looked awkwardly between the sisters. Thankfully both of them were quite adapt at reading people so they realised almost instantly that Susie hadn’t addresses Hilda but Zelda.

‘Yes, Susie?’

‘Ahm, well, since you know so much about Anne Boleyn, I thought maybe we could show you our presentation later and you can tell us if we made any mistakes? Or maybe missed something?’

‘I think that’s a great idea, isn’t it, aunt Zee?’ Ambrose gave his aunt a cheeky grin that earned him a glare and a small eye roll from Hilda but Zelda just couldn’t say no to Susie’s big eyes. She sighed.

‘Very well. I will check in on you later.’

‘Thank you, Miss Spellman!’

 

* * *

 

It was around tea-time that Zelda found herself knocking at Sabrina’s door and was pulled inside almost immediately by her niece.

‘We are almost finished, aunt Zelda!’, Sabrina declared and all three of them beamed at her.

 ‘Well, do you want me to come back once you are?’

‘Oh no, Miss Spellman, if you could stay, please? I have a few questions that I couldn’t find anything on…’ Roz looked sheepishly at her and she had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She hadn’t exactly planned to help them with their project but now it seemed like she didn’t have much of a choice. At least what she could see on the table looked promising so she nodded at the girl.

‘Fine. What do you want to know, Rosalind?’

‘Uh, ahm, here.’ The girl sputtered and grabbed the book Sabrina handed her. ‘It says that Anne Boleyn was tended to by Margaret Lee before her execution, right?’

‘That would be correct’, Zelda nodded. Of course Roz’s topic had to be the execution, perhaps her least favourite part of the entire story. She had, after all, been there. It was neither the first nor the last execution she had attended though one of only a few dozens were she knew the accused person and one of the handful that she was even close to them. It wasn’t pretty but it had been clean and quick – not like the ugly burnings of the wild heretics and the hangings during the witch hunts.

She involuntarily shuddered at that though, witch hunts were an even touchier subject for Zelda then Anne Boleyn was. With a nod she motioned for Roz to continue and with a quick look towards Sabrina the girl did.

‘And none of her other Ladies? I mean, she had several, right?’

‘She did indeed. But they were not permitted to see her in the tower in groups, afraid that they could plot something. So Margaret Lee was send, the first of the ladies in waiting, and a woman known for her loyalties. She tended to Queen Anne and helped her to get ready for the execution – though she made sure that all the other ladies would help prepare the gowns and pearls that Anne wanted to wear.’

‘And her speech?’ Susie asked while Roz and Sabrina hastily added this new information to their notes.

‘What speech are you talking about, Susie?’

‘The one she gave just before she died, Miss Spellman.’

Ah, that one. Of course they’d want to know about that. It was a complicated matter, really, because while the people generally seemed to believe it was about Anne’s belief in the false god, witches knew better. Oh, Anne had undeniably spoken about Jesus Christ and the Christian god but she had mocked them. She was about to die with no chance to return, she didn’t have anything to loose so really, why shouldn’t she?

 Now the question was, what was she going to tell the children without giving any of that away?

‘Well’, she began, ‘the last words of Anne Boleyn have been quite clear, don’t you think? Asking for mercy, asking for the king to be happy, she said what she was expected to say.’

‘So you think she wanted to say something else?’

‘I don’t think she wanted to die, Susie.’

‘That’s quite right, Rosalind. But we know that she was a proud woman and she saw herself as Queen to the moment she died. And a Queen does never beg, not even if she is about to be beheaded.’

‘Aunt Zee, are you saying that if she hadn’t married the king, Anne Boleyn would have been able to say what she wanted on her execution?’

‘If she hadn’t married the king, she wouldn’t have been in that position, right?’ Roz asked thoughtfully and Zelda found herself nodding.

‘If she had not married King Henry, then she would have gone and married someone else at court and eventually he would have gotten over it and found himself another wife. He did after her death, several times.’ She stopped and shook her head before looking each of the girls in the eye.

‘But remember, if Anne hadn’t agreed to marry Henry after his divorce from Katherine of Aragon, then her daughter Elizabeth would have never been born and Lord knows where we would be today if she hadn’t been made Queen.’

Silence followed her words and the three girls found themselves nodding solemnly.

It was only after aunt Zelda left them to their own devices again that Sabrina realised that something about this entire conversation had been odd. Something about the way her aunt spoke about all those people, as if she knew them – but that was silly, she thought as she put her coloured pencils back into their box. That would mean her auntie was over five hundred years old and that was impossible. Right?

Thinking about things like that was really exhausting and she much rather turned her attention back to her friends who were just putting the finishing touches to their poster. It was colourful and pretty and Susie had even painted a small scene on the bottom; a woman with a distinctly red petticoat walking towards a little stage, where an executioner was waiting with a sword.

Before they left, Susie and Roz rolled the poster out again, at the kitchen table so aunt Hilda could admire it as well. She did, albeit a little hesitant but with the children’s’ excited chatter about what they learned, she couldn’t help but smile at them.

‘I think your teacher will be very impressed’, she assured them and of course she would turn out to be right.

 

When Sabrina came home from school a few days later with excitement in her eyes and immediately started to blabber about their very successful presentation, her two aunts just gave each other a look.

 _I think you deserve a lot of the credit for that,_ Hilda’s said. And Zelda’s was, of course, the denial of that. _They would have done just as well without me but I’m glad I could help._

 

* * *

After that, Sabrina would often come and ask her aunties for assistance with her history homework and sometimes, she wondered if they were really as interested in those long past times as they claimed or if maybe they had lived through more of them than they wanted to admit.

But eventually, she stopped thinking about it too much, it was too taxing and maybe a little frightening. Still, the curiosity was there, buried and hidden and one day, she knew she would have to work up the courage and ask her aunties about it.

Or maybe just aunt Hilda? Surely aunt Zelda’s answer would be along the lines of ‘Really Sabrina, one never discusses a lady’s age!’

Well, whatever. She didn’t need to know and therefore, everything went back to normal. And on occasion, Sabrina even had her friends over… so maybe she should thank Anne Boleyn for that?

And anyway, she should really ask aunt Zelda about the witch queen…tomorrow...after she woke up...

**Author's Note:**

> Zelda may have just been a little OC in this OS, sorry for that xD  
> Also, writing in historical speech is very hard and if done properly, it's equally hard to read. So I hope you don't mind that I stuck with 'modern' english for all our sakes :)


End file.
